The time limit for filing applications to have the candidates registered as electoral competitors in the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019 was January 24. Thus, fifteen parties submitted application to run in the national constituency and nine of these were already registered. As many as 222 runners were registered in single-member constituencies by January 24, with 401 applications to register initiative groups for supporting candidates in single-member constituencies being filed, IPN reports.

The registered parties are: the Democratic Party, the electoral bloc ACUM DA PAS, the Party of Communists, the Party of Socialists, the Shor Party, the People’s Movement “Antimafie”, the Political Party “Our Party”, the National Liberal Party and the “People’s Will” Party.

The files of the Party of Regions, the Party “Democracy at Home”, the Professionals’ Movement “Speranţa-Nadejda”, the Political Party “Patria”, the Liberal Party and the Ecologist Green Party are being examined. The last two parties submitted the required documents on the last day this was possible.

As to the candidates in single-member constituencies, 401 applications to register initiative groups for supporting candidates in such constituents were recorded by January 24, with 222 electoral contenders being registered. The head of the Central Election Commission’s Communications, Public Relations and the Media Division Rodica Sîrbu has told IPN that 16 of all the candidates are independents, while the rest represent parties.

For the national consultative referendum of February 24, 2019, the CEC registered two participants – the Democratic Party with the option “For” and the Party of Communists with the option “Against”. The CEC refused to register the Party “Our Home – Moldova” as a participant in the referendum with the option “Boycott”. Another four applications are being examined.

A number of 24 electoral contenders ran in the parliamentary elections of 2014. Only four of these were independents.